Rivera wants to see more from Charles Johnson

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said today he feels like his team is ahead of schedule as it completes its first week of training camp.

There's still work to be done, however.

Rivera mentioned defensive end Charles Johnson as a player who can do more.

"Charles Johnson is very consistent right now but we need him to take it to another level. He's doing the things we want him to do but we want him to do more. That's why we have him here," Rivera said.

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Rivera pointed out how impressive former South Carolina star Eric Norwood has been in camp as well as rookie defensive linemen Frank Alexander and Nate Chandler.

He also said receiver Armanti Edwards is having "an outstanding camp."

Rivera said the battle for punter and kicker are close and will be determined by how each player does in preseason games. He emphasized it's an open competition at both spot and no player has a particular advantage at this point.

The Panthers will have a full practice in pads tonight then back off on Friday before FanFest at Bank of America Stadium Saturday at 4 p.m. Rivera said the Panthers will treat the Saturday session like a normal practice, doing a variety of things including team drills with the offense going against the defense.